Dr. Armin Nurkanović
Postdoc
Email: armin.nurkanovic@imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Phone: +49-761-203-73278
About me
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Systems Control and Optimization Laboratory at the University of Freiburg. I work on numerical methods for optimal control and real-time model predictive control of hybrid and nonsmooth systems.
Prior to that, I served as an interim professor at the Institute for Mathematical Optimization at TU Braunschweig in the summer semester of 2025. I completed my PhD (summa cum laude) at the University of Freiburg in November 2023, supervised by Prof. Moritz Diehl. I was a finalist for the 2024 European Systems & Control PhD Thesis Award. Together with my co-authors, I received the IEEE Control Systems Letters Outstanding Paper Award for 2022.
I began my PhD at Siemens Technology in Munich in 2018, in the Autonomous Systems and Control research group, and moved to Freiburg in October 2021. I received my Master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Munich in 2018, supported by a DAAD scholarship, and my Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tuzla in 2015.
Research interests
I develop efficient problem formulations and numerical methods for optimal control of all kinds of nonlinear and hybrid systems (i.e. systems combining discrete and continuous components, e.g. switches, contacts and friction in robotics, on/off decisions). I am particularly interested in real-time optimization methods applicable to broad classes of such systems. In addition, I am involved in applying these methods to real-world systems, with a particular focus on robotics and renewable energy systems. For publications, check out the list below or my Google Scholar page.
A brief overview of my PhD research can be found in my interview in IEEE Control Systems Magazine. More detailed material, including recent developments, is available in the slides from my lectures at the:
- Summer School on Nonlinear Optimization with Mixed Integer and Complementarity Constraints (Freiburg, 2026),
- Winter School on Numerical Methods for Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Systems (Paris, 2025), and
- Summer School on Direct Methods for Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Systems (Freiburg, 2023).
Keywords
Model predictive control, Optimization-based control, Nonlinear programming, Mathematical programming with complementarity constraints, Mixed-integer optimization, Numerical Simulation, Applications: Robotics, Renewable energy systems
Preprints
Real-Time Algorithms for Model Predictive Control of Hybrid Dynamical Systems
Armin Nurkanović, Anton Pozharskiy, Moritz Diehl
Code: MATLAB · Python · VideoCCOpt: an Open-Source Solver for Large-Scale Mathematical Programs with Complementarity Constraints
Anton Pozharskiy, François Pacaud, Moritz Diehl, Armin Nurkanović
Code · Also available directly in CasADi since version 3.8.0.Local Convergence Results for Sequential Quadratic Programming with Complementarity Constraints
Armin NurkanovićRobust Rigid Body Assembly via Contact-Implicit Optimal Control with Exact Second-Order Derivatives
Christian Dietz, Sebastian Albrecht, Gianluca Frison, Moritz Diehl, Armin Nurkanović
Video
Software 
I have contributed to the (human) code and/or algorithms of the following open-source packages:
- nosnoc: MATLAB package for numerical simulation and optimal control of nonsmooth and hybrid systems.
- nosnoc_py: Python package for numerical simulation, optimal control, and MPC of nonsmooth and hybrid systems.
- CCOpt: Julia solver for large-scale optimization with complementarity constraints -- usable directly from CasADi.
- MPECopt: MATLAB solver for nonlinear optimization with complementarity constraints, with convergence guarantees to B-stationary points.
- LCQPow: Solver for quadratic programs with linear complementarity constraints.
- acados: Fast solvers for embedded optimal control and MPC, including my advanced-step real-time iteration (AS-RTI) algorithms (2019, 2024). I did not contribute to the acados code.
An overview of our software for nonsmooth optimization and control is available on the nosnoc GitHub page.
Teaching
Winter Semester 2026/2027
Summer semester 2026
- Summer School on Nonlinear Optimization with Mixed Integer and Complementarity Constraints (lecturer, organizer)
Winter Semester 2025/2026
- Numerical Optimal Control (exercises)
Summer semester 2025
- Dynamic Optimization at TU Braunschweig (lecturer)
- Computerlab Optimization (in Julia) at TU Braunschweig (lecturer)
Winter semester 2024/2025
- Winter School on Numerical Methods for Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Systems (lecturer, co-organizer)
Winter semester 2023/2024
- Numerical optimization (exercises)
Summer semester 2023
- Summer School on Direct Methods for Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Systems (lecturer, organizer)
- Numerical optimal control (exercises)
For students
I am open to supervising talented and ambitious Bachelor's and Master's students in mathematics, engineering, or computer science for their theses and semester projects. You are welcome to propose a topic, or I can help identify one that aligns with our mutual interests. You should have a strong background in at least one of the following areas: optimization or simulation (e.g. by having an excellent grade in NumOpt or NOC), software engineering or control theory.
If you are interested in working with me, please send a short email outlining your area of interest and attach your CV and a recent transcript of records (make sure they are not excessive in size, < 2MB). Applications without them will be ignored. If you do not hear back from me in ten days, feel free to send a reminder email by replying to your first email.
Currently available master's theses (also with industry and paid):
- ✨ (new!) Real-Time MHE for Whole-Body Inertial Motion Capture (with ROKOKO)
- ✨ (new!) A solver for quadratic programs with complementarity constraints (email me for more info)
- Model Predictive Control for Real-Time Congestion Management in the German Transmission Grid (with Transnet BW)